herofandomcom-20200223-history
Martin Prendergast
Sgt. Martin Prendergast is the secondary protagonist of Falling Down (1993). He was played by Robert Duvall. Personality Unlike William Foster, who often takes his anger out on the frustrations of the modern society, Prendergast handles his own problems with empathy and maturity. Prendergast has had a similar life to Foster's, as his daughter died shortly after birth. This made his wife paranoid of losing her husband but Martin, although scarred and depressed as a result of the incident, moved on with his life nonetheless. An intelligent man with an affinity for deduction, Prendergast put all the pieces together involving Foster's violent rampage through Los Angeles, although he recieved little credit for it in the end. Foster is a quiet, unassuming and meek man who just wants to see justice done at the end of the day. He never utters a single profanity until the end of the film, which shocks his boss. Character Biography The movie begins with Prendergast in a traffic jam. When Foster leaves his own car, Prendergast walks over to look into the problem. He suggests to both the cop and a random civilian, who happened to witness Foster leaving his car, to push Foster's car out of the way. Back in his office, his fellow cops were discussing with him about his retirement. He also have a picture of his deceased daughter in his drawer. At that moment, Amanda calls him. She was feeling lonely and paranoid, so her husband helps to calm her down by singing "London Bridge is Falling Down". Later on, Mr. Lee came to Prendergast's office. Lee explains to Prendergast that a man smashes up his store with his baseball bat, and that he thought that the man was a robber. After the man finish smashing up the merchandise, he leaves after paying for the soda. Lee also describes that the man was wearing a white shirt and a tie. The next witness to a series of crimes on that very day is Angie, whose boyfriend was killing in a drive-by attempt on Foster. She could only indicates that there was a gym bag with lots of guns in it. The clues lead Prendergast to find out about the same car in the traffic jam earlier. He finally realizes that the man was none other than someone called "D-Fens". Prendergast and Torres then takes a visit to Foster's mom. Mrs. Foster said that her son was acting strange around her. She then shows Prendergast her son's bedroom. The mom then said that her son barely speak to her during dinner, staring at her as if he's was going to kill her. She was also surprised about why her son was going back and forth everyday from a job that he was fired a month ago. Later on, back at the police department, Prendergast founds out about a case of murder. Torres was surprised that the man was none other than the same person she was talking to in the Army Surplus store. The man was founded stuffed in his own display case. Prendergast also heard about a "G.I. Joe" scaring a man into a heart attack and accosting a family next door. Prendergast then receives yet another call from his wife. He finally stood up to her, telling her that she have to cook the dinner first before leaving the skin on the chicken. Everyone in the office threw a surprise party for him, but could not fit his name on the cake. However, Prendergast had no time to attend the party. Torres' partner then insults Prendergast's wife, causing the latter to punch him in the face. In the next scene, Prendergast and Torres went to Beth's house, just before Foster could leave. Torres was shot while trying to stop Foster. Prendergast then call out to the by-standers to call the ambulance, then took Torres' gun and chases Foster down. When Prendergast catches up to Foster, who was talking to his family, he said that he's retiring to Arizona, Lake Havasu City. He then also talk to Foster about his own daughter, who died while she was 2 years old. Prendergast then offers his cup of popcorn to Adele, Foster's daughter. With Foster distracted, Beth helps to throw the gun away, and ran away while Prendergast himself draws out his revolver, insisting that Foster gives himself up. Prendergast could tell that Foster was about to kill his wife, daughter and then himself. He also refers to the cops as the "good guys", causing Foster to realizes that he's a "bad guy". Foster then tries to say that he helped to build missiles and protect America, and that he should be rewarded for that, and that he was lied to. Prendergast acknowledges his problem, but it doesn't "give you any special right to do what you did today", and that the only thing that makes him special is his daughter. Foster then wishes for a duel involving a "showdown between the sheriff and the bad guy". This causes Prendergast to shoots him in self-defense. It turns out that the weapon that Foster pulled out is a water gun, the same toy that Beth brought for Adele earlier. Foster warns the detective that "I would've gotcha", before falling dead into the sea. Prendergast then looks over the pier, feeling sorry when he had killed Foster as the man's dead body floats on the water. Prendergast then went back to Beth's house to make sure that both Beth and her daughter were okay. He then stood up to Captain Yardley, his boss who always disrespects him. After a conversation with Beth, he then talks to Adele, who says out her name. Prendergast then jokes with Adele, saying that his name is "Mud" when his wife finds out that he's "still a cop", meaning that he will stay on the force. Gallery Martin_Prendergast_traffic_jam.jpg|Martin Prendergast in the traffic jam. Martin_Prendergast_pushing_car.jpg|Prendergast, as he helps to push the car. Martin_Prendergast_in_office.jpg|Prendergast talking to his fellow officers. Martin_Prendergast_and_Mr._Lee.jpg|Prendergast talking to Mr. Lee. Martin_Prendergast_interviewing_Angie.jpg|Prendergast's interview with Angie. Martin_Prendergast_and_Cpt._Yardley.jpg|Prendergast with Cpt. Yardley. Martin_Prendergast_and_Sandra_Torres.jpg|Prendergast and Sandra Torres. Martin_Prendergast_visiting_Mrs._Foster.jpg|Prendergast and Torres visiting Mrs. Foster. Martin_Prendergast_in_party.jpg|Prendergast in the goodbye party with his fellow co-workers. Martin_Prendergast_helping_Det._Torres.jpg|Prendergast helping the wounded Torres. Martin_Prendergast_and_Foster's_family.jpg|Prendergast with Foster and his family. Martin_Prendergast_confronts_William_Foster.jpg|Prendergast telling Foster to give up. Martin_Prendergast_and_William_Foster.jpg|Prendergast with Foster, moments before the latter's suicide by cop. Martin_Prendergast_after_shooting_Foster.jpg|Prendergast realizes that he was squirted with Foster's water gun. Martin_Prendergast_insulting_Cpt._Yardley.jpg|Prendergast standing up to his boss. Martin_Prendergast_and_Elizabeth_Trevino.jpg|Prendergast consoling Elizabeth Trevino. Martin_Prendergast_and_Adele.jpg|Prendergast talking to Adele. Category:Male Category:Live Action Heroes Category:Movie Heroes Category:Wise Category:Sophisticated Category:Antagonists Category:Spouses Category:Lawful Neutral Category:Tragic Category:Officials Category:The Messiah Category:In Love Category:Elderly Category:Parents Category:Rescuers Category:Retired